The Nigeria Police Force has dismissed one of its officers found guilty of assault and disobedience of lawful order.
Opeyemi Kadiri, a corporal attached to the Dolphin Divisional Headquarters in Lagos, was dismissed “for gross misconduct, disobedience to lawful order and assault,” the Force spokesperson, Muyiwa Adejobi said in a statement on his Twitter handle on Friday.
The officer was captured in a viral video on 3 August searching a commuter’s phone. The police said his behavior was contrary to the directive of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Usman Baba.
According to the male voice in the video, the dismissed police officer and his colleague had asked him to pull over and attempted to search his phone.
But he resisted saying that it was against the law.
“So, I was going for a job, this policeman stopped me, collected my phone and was searching. But the Inspector-General of police said on Twitter that you should not search our phones. Why are you searching for phone?” he said.
Shortly after the video surfaced, the police in Lagos said the officer had been identified and recommended for disciplinary action.
According to the police, no police officer has the right to check one’s phone anywhere except the phone is an exhibit in a case under investigation.
“He equally assaulted the commuter who attempted to bring the order to his notice. His dismissal takes effect from today the 12th of August, 2022,” the statement read.
“The Police hereby calls on officers and men of the Force to maintain professionalism and civility to members of the public in the discharge of their duties in line with extant laws.
“The Force equally calls on members of the public to ensure proper conduct in all encounters with police officers to avoid infractions which may be subject to prosecution.”